Free Media & Images APIs — ranked by value
Photos, video, image processing
Scores rate free-tier value on a 1–10 scale. How scores work →
-
Unsplash Media & Images API key Search and fetch from a vast library of free, high-resolution professional photos. 50 req/hr -
Pexels Media & Images API key Free API for searching curated stock photos and videos with generous rate limits. 200 req/hr -
Pixabay Media & Images API key Search over 4 million royalty-free images, illustrations, vectors and videos. 100 req -
Cloudinary Media & Images API key Upload, store, transform, optimize and deliver images and video via a programmable CDN. Free tier -
Giphy Media & Images API key Search, trending and random endpoints for the world's largest animated GIF and sticker library. 42 req/hr -
Lorem Picsum Media & Images No auth Simple URL-based placeholder photo service backed by Unsplash images, no key required. No published cap -
DiceBear Media & Images No auth Generate deterministic SVG/PNG avatars from many open-source styles via a simple HTTP API. Self-hosted -
ScreenshotMachine Media & Images API key Capture website screenshots and thumbnails as PNG, JPG or PDF from any URL. 100/mo -
Flickr Media & Images API key Search, browse and retrieve photos and metadata from Flickr's huge community photo library. 3.6k req/hr -
Imgur Media & Images OAuth Upload, host and retrieve images, albums and galleries on the popular image-sharing platform. 12.5k/day -
Openverse Media & Images API key Search 800M+ openly licensed and public domain images and audio across many sources. 100 req/min -
Metropolitan Museum of Art Media & Images No auth Open-access API to 470k+ artworks with high-resolution public domain images and metadata. 80 req/sec -
Art Institute of Chicago Media & Images No auth Public API for the museum's collection with IIIF image URLs and rich artwork metadata. Fair use -
Rijksmuseum Media & Images API key Search the Dutch national museum's collection and fetch high-resolution artwork images. 10k req/day -
Harvard Art Museums Media & Images API key Query 200k+ objects with images, color data and rich metadata from Harvard's collections. 2.5k req/day -
NASA Image and Video Library Media & Images API key Search NASA's media library plus the Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD) imagery feed. 1k req/hr -
Cataas Media & Images No auth Cat-as-a-service: get random cat pictures and GIFs with optional text overlays via URL. No published cap -
RoboHash Media & Images No auth Generate unique robot, monster, alien or cat avatars from any text or hash string. No published cap -
DummyImage Media & Images No auth Generate solid-color placeholder images with custom size, colors and text via URL. No published cap -
Icon Horse Media & Images No auth Fetch the best available favicon for any website with automatic high-quality fallbacks. Free tier -
The Noun Project Media & Images OAuth Search and download from millions of curated icons and photos via an OAuth API. 5k/mo -
Iconify Media & Images No auth Open API serving 200k+ icons from 150+ icon sets as SVG, with search and metadata. Self-hosted -
QR Server (goqr.me) Media & Images No auth Generate and decode QR codes as PNG/SVG/JSON through a simple keyless GET API. No published cap -
QR Code Monkey Media & Images No auth Create custom, branded QR codes with logos and styling via a free REST API. No published cap -
Wallhaven Media & Images API key Search and fetch high-resolution desktop wallpapers with tags, colors and filtering. 45 req/min -
ImgBB Media & Images API key Free image hosting API that accepts uploads and returns shareable direct image URLs. No published cap -
Uploadcare Media & Images API key Upload, store, transform, optimize and deliver files and images through a CDN API. 3k/mo -
imgix Media & Images API key Real-time image transformation and optimization over a URL-based rendering CDN. Free tier -
Clipdrop Media & Images API key AI image APIs for background removal, upscaling, cleanup and text-to-image generation. 100 req/mo -
ApiFlash Media & Images API key Chrome-based website screenshot API designed to be pixel-perfect and scalable. 100/mo -
Microlink Media & Images API key Turn any URL into rich metadata, screenshots, PDFs and Open Graph preview images. 50 req/day